For over 150 years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard (the Yard) was one of the nation’s most active naval shipbuilding facilities and launched many of the United States’ most famous fighting ships, including the USS Maine, USS Arizona, and USS Missouri. At its peak during World War II, the Yard employed 70,000 people. When the Navy decommissioned the Yard in the mid-1960s, nearly 10,000 civilian employees worked at the Yard.

For the last fifty years, EDA has invested several times in the Yard, working in partnership with local leaders to transform the area into a manufacturing hub. In 1966, the year the active U.S. military installation closed displacing thousands of workers, EDA designated the Yard as a redevelopment area and began providing financial support for the redevelopment efforts. By 1970, EDA invested $15 million to fund technical assistance and infrastructure rehabilitation of existing buildings for industrial reuse, attracting 14 employers to the Yard. In 2009, EDA invested $2.5 million in a green manufacturing center in the Yard. This investment provided space for new and growing green manufacturing companies, creating 300 new jobs and leveraging approximately $4.4 million in private investment. The same year, EDA invested $2.5 million to BioBAT’s New York Science and Technology Center for Biotechnology Research and Manufacturing at the adjacent Brooklyn Army Terminal, which is providing affordable space for mid-stage and growing biotechnology firms to locate and grow in Kings County. The Yard is now home to over 330 businesses employing more than 7,000 people and generating over $2B per year in economic impact for the City.

In 2015, EDA continued to build upon its history and partnerships at the Yard by investing $2 million with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) to create new space for manufacturers and startups. EDA’s investment will enable the renovation of two floors of historic Building 77 into industrial suites to support medium-sized start-ups and expanding manufacturing tenants. Vitally important, the EDA investment is being matched with $3 million from the BNYDC, representing a solid buy-in from this community. According to BNYDC estimates, this project will create more than 375 manufacturing jobs in the region and generate more than $2 million in private investment.